O’Meara Named Diving MVP to Wrap Up ACC Championship

Saturday, February 19

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Duke University

ACC Championship

O’Meara Named Diving MVP to Wrap Up ACC Championship

2/19/2022 11:37:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

RESULTS

ATLANTA – A historic ACC Championship culminated in freshman Margo O'Meara being named the ACC Championship Diving MVP, as Duke finished fifth and 10th in women's and men's, respectively, to close the 2022 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships at the McAuley Aquatics Pavilion in Atlanta.

Duke's women finished fifth with 709 points while the men wrapped up the meet in 10th with 341 points. The fifth-place finish on the women's side matched the 2019 team for the best place in the previous 40 years.

"We are extremely proud of all the performances we had this week in Atlanta," head coach Dan Colella said. "It was a new experience for us to have the women's and men's meets combined and it created a lot of great energy. There were an impressive number of school records and top-10 performances in the meet. For us to move up on the women's side was terrific and it was a battle until the end. We are looking froward to capitalizing on this week at NCAAs back here in Atlanta in two weeks. All in all, a lot of people learned a lot of things for the coming year, and I couldn't be more proud seniors."

O'Meara won the platform diving event on Saturday with a career-high 324.95, the third highest in program history. Earlier in the week, the St. Louis, Mo., native placed first in one-meter diving (354.75) and fourth in three-meter diving (367.10). She becomes the third Blue Devil to earn Diving MVP honors, joining Olympians Abby Johnston and Nick McCrory.

"It's a great honor, especially for her to be at Duke because she shares it with two Olympians," diving coach Nunzio Esposto said. "She is a rockstar. She is wonderful to coach, a pleasure to be around and a great teammate to everyone. Margo is one of the elite divers that I have coached, and we have a great connection. She remained focused, calm and composed throughout the week but was still aggressive in her dives."

Duke broke seven school records throughout the men's and women's meets, including two records on the final day of competition. In the final event of the meet, the men's 400 freestyle relay team of junior Coleman Kredich, junior Charlie Gingrich, junior Brad Sanford and sophomore Zach McIntyre recorded a mark of 2:52.71.

Sophomore Sarah Foley recorded her third individual school record this postseason, this time in the 200 breaststroke. She narrowly missed a third All-ACC honor, placing fourth with an impressive record time of 2:06.63. Sophomore Catherine Belyakov followed Foley in the 200 breaststroke in 24th (2:14.89).

Three Blue Devils recorded top-10 times while scoring in the 1,650 freestyle. On the men's side, junior Brendan Driscoll and freshman Blake Johnson placed 11th and 19th with times of 15:15.71 (fourth all-time at Duke) and 15:31.96 (10th all-time at Duke), respectively. Rookie Yixuan Chang finished 11th on the women's side with a 16:32.86, the third-fastest time in program lore.

Senior Easop Lee swam the third-fastest time in program history in the 200 backstroke (1:54.35) and placed 10th in the event. Also competing in the 200 backstroke, sophomore Emily Lenihan touched 20th with a time of 1:57.03.

In the 100 freestyle, senior Shayna Hollander represented the Blue Devils well. She placed 18th in the event with a time of 49.34, the seventh-fastest time in program lore.

The women's quartet of rookie McKenna Smith, Foley, Hollander and junior Sarah Snyder recorded a mark of 3:16.79 in the 400 freestyle relay to rank 10th in Duke history.

Duke now shifts its gaze to preparation for the 2022 NCAA Championships. Prior to the Championships, select Blue Devils will compete in the UNC Last Chance Meet in Chapel Hill on Feb. 25-26.

Duke's Top Finishers by Event:
Women's Platform Diving: Margo O'Meara (1st), 324.95
Women's 1650-Yard Freestyle: Yixuan Chang (11th), 16:32.86
Men's 1650-Yard Freestyle: Brendan Driscoll (11th), 15:15.71
Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: McKenna Smith, Sarah Foley, Shayna Hollander, Sarah Snyder (8th), 3:16.79
Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Coleman Kredich, Charlie Gingrich, Brad Sanford, Zach McIntyre (8th), 2:52.71
Women's 200-Yard Backstroke: Easop Lee (10th), 1:54.35
Men's 200-Yard Backstroke: David Hallaron (28th), 1:45.50
Women's 100-Yard Freestyle: Shayna Hollander (18th), 49.34
Men's 100-Yard Freestyle: Charlie Gingrich (25th), 43.90
Women's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Sarah Foley (4th), 2:06.63
Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Cole Reznick (25th), 1:59.16

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